June Garden, Flowery Baskets, Turmeric Vegetable Soup

Happy Summer! My cheery 2018 Baskets hanging is up on the wall to help us celebrate the season. Appliquing these scrappy blocks was so enjoyable.

I realize now that summer is all about outside the house for me. Especially on sunny days.
I go out first thing in the morning just to have a quick look round and see what may have opened since the day before. Lately I am always rewarded; things are blooming quickly now thanks to several days of sunlight in a row. It is especially fun when the newest flower is one I've forgotten all about planting.
  I go back in, have my coffee and head straight back out. Then it's close up which means weeding and pruning on my knees to ease the back from all the bending. (Hubby blames all the weeds on the abundance of rain we've had.) I limit this to an hour because I find more than that makes my right hand ache. My stitching hand, so can't have that.
But happily I've gotten to relax too outside with some veranda time sitting and stitching.
 Also I try to get in a swim every day...the only time I won't swim is if there is a thunder and lightening forecast. As I've said, swimming is the only exercise that controls these vanilla pudding thighs of mine.
Of course, we are still walking Rex and Murphy twice a day though lately, we've been taking Rex once a day as it seems to be slow going for him with a little bit of confusion involved too at times. 😢
                              
I used that Plant Snap App to identify my ivy plant that is about 6 years old now. It sat on top of the cabinet at the old farm and spread itself well.  In fact I made a second plant of it there on the right that I gave away.

 English Ivy or Common Ivy was what it told me; no surprise there.  It's one of those plants that can't handle direct sun but likes bright light which can be tricky to satisfy inside a house. (The orchid gets a little trickier as it needs colder temp. for part of each day as well.)
That Ivy today...still thriving and I've tried to coax it away from runners and to thicken up which it has done a little / I haven't killed it...yet.

I made a turmeric vegetable soup with added beans and coconut milk.  It was tasty. Similar recipe here called Anything You Have Coconut Curry Soup at the Pinch of Yum site. We both like curry so it works for us and I make it in one form or another a lot.

 Helped me feel better about the quick meal of hot dogs we'd had the day before.  Hubby just loves hot dogs...me not so much.  Mom was always distrustful of wieners, as in not knowing what went in them; consequently, we did not eat them growing up.  Maybe that is why I feel like I do.

At first I thought this was the female cardinal I was watching through the window. But it is the male...the colours not nearly as bright as earlier in the season but still beautiful...kind of purplish-puce? Unperturbed by the steady rainfall that day.

My cross stitched Cornwall Cottage Sampler is finished so it's back to the baskets today for a little late afternoon stitching hopefully on the veranda.  I will have no trouble meeting my June OMG this time!

Hope all is rosy in your June garden literally and figuratively!
So happy to link this post with kathy's Quilts, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, Em's Scrapbag, and Love Laugh Quilt.